QNET, an international direct selling company, has opened the Direct Selling Disinformation Centre (DSDC) to combat the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation about the direct selling industry valued at over $186 billion.
The centre is expected to work across the direct selling industry to ensure best practices are followed, including transparency, realistic expectations of partners, and accurate product descriptions and claims.
It will also collaborate with relevant stakeholders including government, trade bodies, and regulators to educate them about the business model, its potential, and its impact on the economy.
Trevor Kuna, chief strategy and transformation officer of QNET, said that direct selling is a well-established and strictly regulated industry in many advanced economies.
Citing an example, Kuna said that in the US, the business model originated over 100 years ago, and it’s regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.
According to Kuna, in many emerging markets, the growth of the gig economy and the arrival of innovative new business models that are different from traditional trade, are not only unregulated but often misunderstood.
“No organisation is specifically dedicated to countering the disinformation that can allow rogue operators to abuse the direct selling industry for personal gain or a shortcut. We believe that this new QNET-hosted Direct Selling Disinformation Centre is the only one of its kind dedicated to countering disinformation originating from and about the industry,” Kuna explained.
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“In 2021, more than 128 million distributors generated $186 billion in direct selling revenue worldwide. The vast majority had a good experience, including with some of the largest brands in the world. The minority who had a bad experience need protection and reliable guidance,” Kuna added.
According to QNET, the DSDC can be a critical tool for tackling disinformation in the direct selling industry in new and emerging economies such as in the African continent, where direct selling saw a staggering 18 percent increase in distributors last year.
The center is also expected to play a key role in serving as a point of reference for new and existing distributors to understand the regulations and ethics that the direct selling industry upholds on the international level.
In the initial phase, the center will have a real-time incident reporting function that will allow anyone in the world to raise a red flag if QNET’s business, products or opportunities are misrepresented as an investment scheme or promoted through improper sales tactics, including on social media.
In the longer term, the company aims to scale the center to make it available to other companies in the industry.
The DSDC will also have a staff of 12 people with a range of experience in the direct selling industry including in finance, compliance, legal, and operations.
Meanwhile, QNET said there are ongoing conversations with other stakeholders, including other direct selling organisations, for increased funding and scale of the DSDC.
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